The exhibition at the Town Hall was opened today by Ipswich Mayor Bill Quinton at the start of a weekend of commemorations to mark the centenary of the outbreak of the war.

Families and businesses from around the town have loaned treasured memorabilia for the exhibition which includes the VC awarded to local hero Sam Harvey.

Mr Quinton said: “This really does show how the war affected people in Ipswich, It is a chance to see things that aren’t normally on show.

“It is only for a couple of days – but that has enabled us to borrow items that might not have been loaned if we had wanted them for a longer time.”

As well as the exhibition at the Town Hall, a new gallery showing how Ipswich coped during the First World War is opening at Ipswich Museum in the High Street – and will stay, with updates through the years, until at least the end of 2018.

I'm heartily sick of all this propaganda by the Government to get us all waving flags and feeling proud to be British. No-one felt proud enough to honour those who fought, 50 and 75 years after the war. This is all a bit late - they are all dead now. Next year it's 200 years since Waterloo when the allies stopped France from taking over Europe. I hope we mark that in the same way.